


Me, You, and Morning Routine

by bitfibber



Category: Teen Titans (Animated Series)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-17
Updated: 2017-12-17
Packaged: 2019-02-15 23:35:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,507
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13041855
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bitfibber/pseuds/bitfibber
Summary: Their love was a slow love, built on tea and the quiet presence of one another and an early morning routine. Yes, their love was a slow love. Robin/Raven(Written in 2013, Revamped in 2018!)





	Me, You, and Morning Routine

**Author's Note:**

> Originally wrote this in 2013 at 3 am. Due to its continued popularity and my retroactive embarrassment, I have given this oneshot a quick revamp to correct some awkward sentences and tense changes. There are still some awkward parts, but less now.

Their love was a slow one, built first on friendship.

And, in the beginning, even their friendship was a bit forced. They had mostly been cordial team members, their friendship fairly shallow, until Trigon and the prophecies and the reveal of Raven as the Bringer of the End. When Slade first showed up to activate the runes that marked her skin, it was Robin she chose to pull out of the time freeze. She rationalized it because he had the most experience fighting Slade and Robin also had the best grasp on the skills 'Discretion' and 'Respecting Raven's Space', but frankly she knew she couldn't deal with the prophecy warnings alone. She'd never intended on any of her fellow Titan's to see or know nearly that much about her, but she’d been left with little choice.

Similarly, having Raven take a leisurely stroll during his through his mind as crawled through the vents of Titan’s Tower in a mania hadn't been part of Robin's carefully organized Life Plan. By the end of the ten seconds it took for Raven’s spirit to permeate his mind, she knew his favorite color was actually cerulean blue, he secretly harbored a love for earl grey tea despite his outward dedication to coffee, he was left-eye dominant but both right-handed and right-footed, and that he was secretly disappointed that Cyborg was allergic to cats. Worse, she saw how the memory of his parents dropping to the circus ring floor like a couple of potato sacks played in his memory on a loop and discovered he was the adopted son of billionaire playboy Bruce Wayne.

Since then, their teamwork had been flawless, even if their sudden and intimate knowledge of each other spun their emotional relationship off into a strangely deep but endlessly awkward bond.

Truthfully, their relationship started when they discovered their very similar sleeping schedule. Neither slept late; Robin preferred to spar during the day (when not chasing criminals in Jump City), while Raven preferred meditating during the day. True to their names, though, they were the early birds of Titan's Tower.

Robin found that his best research happened in the very early morning, munching on a breakfast sandwich over his keyboard on the common room couch, hair still mussed from sleep. Raven enjoyed gently blowing on a hot cup of morning tea and reading a good book as the morning light seeped into her room. When the water boiler in Raven's room finally quit working, she thought nothing of it to move her routine to the common room to use the kettle on the stove until she could replace her boiler, expecting that no one would be there anyways.

When she stepped through the automatic doors, arms loaded with a thick leather-bound book, a teapot, mug, loose-leaf tea canister, and a small metal cage for steeping, she was surprised to find Robin on the couch, trying in vain to pick crumbs from his keyboard.

"Oh, Raven," he said, equally surprised upon looking up, "here let me help you."

He slid his laptop to the side and jumped up to assist her with her burden, gently setting the teapot on the counter.

"I didn't know you were awake this early, Robin." Raven responded, and then, belatedly, "thanks."

He flashed her a quick smile. "Yeah, the morning light helps me think."

Raven set her other things down near the teapot and then took a half-step or two towards the stove and tea kettle. "I can just, uh, get hot water and go back to my room if I'm disturbing you," she started.

"No way, you're not disturbing me at all, Raven," he quickly replied, then gestured to her book and teapot, "if you're settling in then I hope my typing won't be disturbing you."

"No, that's fine," she moved towards the kettle with more purpose now that she knew she was welcome. He nodded and returned to the couch and his research. Honestly, she found the soft tapping of his keyboard rather soothing.

In that first morning, they realized that they both heavily valued the calm of the morning before the rest of the Titans (or villains around the city) woke up. Soon, the quiet comfort of one another’s presence quickly became something they both enjoyed, as well as the few small interactions they had.

After a week or two, Raven started to entertain the idea of not buying a new water boiler at all. Robin nearly always beat her to the living room, so every morning he jumped right up to help her unload her arms of whatever thick tome she was reading, despite her quiet protests.

Once, sitting back on the couch after helping her with her things, Robin let out a huff and started to get up again. Before he managed to get halfway there, the coffee cup he had forgotten on the counter-top floated over to him at the couch, wrapped in Raven's telltale black cloak, and gently glided into his hand.

Rather than thank her, Robin shot her a smile and, hesitantly, she returned it with a small one of her own.

Yes, theirs was a love based on tea and, a few weeks later, as he helped her by carrying her tea canister and book, Raven watched him turn the canister over in his hands and inspect the type.

"It's Irish Breakfast," she supplied, "You can have some too, if you like."

"Is it-"

"It's black tea, fairly similar to earl grey," she cut him off, a faint tone of smugness tinged her voice.

He eyed her. "I'd like to try it."

Over time, he stopped drinking coffee entirely, but now chipped in to Raven's tea fund.

In the upcoming months, he asks her if she’d bring him a book he might like the next morning for him to read. Robin makes a gently teasing comment about her tattoos and, rather than storming out, Raven lets out a small laugh. Some mornings they say nearly nothing at all to each other, and others they share a conversation or a personal story. At one point, Raven struggled to shift one of the things she's carrying into his hands and, as a result, they both end up unsteady and awkward, finally stabilizing with their noses nearly touching and his free hand firmly braced on the small of her back. They break apart, but don't talk about it. It's not really their style.

Later, she decided to read on the couch with him rather than at the counter or floating in mid air as usual. On the way around the couch, she ran her fingers lightly through his mussed hair. They become comfortable with small, gentle touches. Their shoulders would brush when both using the stove and their fingers would trace over each other as they handed over mugs of tea. Robin became fond of gently resting his hand on her hip as he passed by in the kitchen; Raven's hands seemed to find his unruly hair almost magnetic.

Finally one day, as he passed her a refilled mug of tea, the brief eye contact and warm look of Raven's eyes seemed just right and he leaned down and kissed her gently and briefly on the lips.

There was no need to tell him that she'd like to do it again some time; the kettle on the stove gave a soft whistle as the water quickly heated despite the fact the burner had been off for more than ten minutes.

They kiss more and for longer durations with the passage of time, but mostly the routine stayed the same. The quiet is as much a part of their romance as anything else, and they know it.

"You know," Raven suggested nonchalantly between sips of tea, now many mornings from their first sunrise spent together, "it would be a lot easier for you to help me carry my stuff if you were there to pick it up in my room in the first place."

He looked at her for a moment, lips barely parted and eyebrows slightly raised in surprise, and his typing stopped. Then he turned back to the keyboard and smiled.

That night, when they went bed, Robin followed Raven into her room and, for the first time, wrapped his body around her and slept deeply, peacefully. The next morning, they both carried the pieces for their morning routine from Raven's room to the common room. 

Yes, theirs is a slow love and the first time they have sex, nearly two years since they discovered their similar schedules, they miss their morning routine the next day entirely. Naked and tucked against Robin's chest, Raven curled her toes as she started to stir. In her half-asleep state, she debated the merits of finally buying that water boiler, as it would be much more beneficial to start making tea in her room once again than to put clothes back on and wander outside. As though he could read her thoughts, Robin's arm tightened to draw her just a little closer.


End file.
